


Awake My Soul

by NotOneHeartbeatDoIForget



Category: Actor RPF, American Actor RPF, Chris Evans - Fandom, Real Person Fiction
Genre: Accidental Bonding, Accidental friendship, Bearded Chris, Cute Animals, F/M, Irish Hugs, One Shot, Priest Chris, Zoo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-05
Updated: 2016-04-05
Packaged: 2018-05-31 09:19:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6464710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotOneHeartbeatDoIForget/pseuds/NotOneHeartbeatDoIForget
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tess grew up in a family that detested all things based in religion. She was proud to call herself an Atheist and did so at every opportunity. She was content in her life and didn't seek a way to change. Life had a way of messing things up and confusing people, and Tess' turn had arrived in the form of a priest and a dead bird.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Awake My Soul

It was the Sayer's annual visit to the Columbus Zoo. Martha loved the aquarium, Tess enjoyed the Australia and the Islands exhibit, Sammy always wanted to spend the day at the water park next to the zoo, and their parents felt the same about the Congo expedition. They had arrived at the zoo early to be ahead of the crowds of people that would most likely show up due to the temperature being favourable for the middle of July, and after buying their tickets at the windows, they walked through the gates and promised to meet back up at the gate at 5pm, then going their separate ways. Tess stopped a few seconds later, just shy of the gate to stay out of the way of the people entering behind her and opened the map she'd been handed with her ticket. She'd save the Australia exhibit for last as she always did. She was debating between Asia and Africa when she was jostled from the side by a person that apologised profusely, asking her if she was okay. Tess assured the stranger that she was, giving them a kind smile as she spouted off curses in her head at the woman that soon died off when Tess's gaze landed on the man that had just entered the gate behind the woman. He didn't take notice of either of them as he headed off into the heart of the zoo.

Not even bothering to give the woman a second glance, Tess decided on Asia and made her way to the left, determined to forget about the man in the priest getup. She managed to do just that for about an hour before spotting him again in the Congo Expedition. It was like her eyes were drawn to him, his presence was that commanding. Still, she was invisible to him, and she forced herself to look away. She hadn't come to a zoo to stare at a cute guy, she'd gone to the zoo to look at the animals. She silently cussed at herself for thinking a priest was attractive, before trying to do her best to pay attention to the animals. She'd barely looked into the habitat before the gasps and shocked voices made her jump slightly from surprise. She glanced around her, noticing some people pointing, and a few children started crying. She scanned the habitat, trying to figure out what had gotten people so out of sorts. There, at the base of a tree was a bird. Its neck had clearly been broken. It must have flown into something, she mused, feeling sorry for the bird but not thinking much else of it. She spent a few more minutes in the area looking at the other animals, her thoughts betraying her as she kept thinking of looking back at the priest. She wouldn't look back over at him. He probably wasn't even there anymore. There's no reason to look back- "Oh, shit," she muttered under her breath as her eyes landed on him again.

He was still standing in the same spot, but this time his head was bowed close to his chest, and his eyes were closed. She could see his lips moving slightly, and she found herself with the curiosity to know what he was saying. She knew he was praying, but what she really wanted to know was why. There was no point in prayer to a made up being, she thought, and had thought for a majority of her twenty-three years. As she stood there, watching the priest continue praying for what felt like an eternity, her curiosity grew stronger. He wasn't overbearing about what he was doing, he kept it to himself despite being in a public place. Tess doubted anyone else besides herself knew what he was doing. So fixated on him she was that it took a few moments for the shouts of surprise to register to her. The priest slowly opened his eyes, looking into the habitat and Tess saw a small smile appear on his face and it looked like he said thank you, before he eventually turned and walked away. Tess looked back to the habitat herself and what she saw shocked her to the core. The bird that had broken its neck and had fallen dead at the base of a tree was completely fine. The handlers in the habitat were looking at each other in shock. She wondered to herself how that could even be possible. That bird had died of a broken neck, and now it was sitting on a lower tree branch preening itself like nothing had happened. It couldn't have been because of that man praying. Could it?

The next few hours, Tess spent walking around the zoo not registering much of anything as she was deep in thought. It wasn't proof that there might actually be a God that heard prayers, but now it wasn't so simple for her to say she was sure there was no such thing, because what she had seen with her own eyes... She was starting to doubt her faith that there was no God. The rational part of her mind hit back that it was just coincidence. The bird probably only looked as if it had a broken neck. It was most likely just dazed, and after a couple of minutes, regained consciousness. It was just coincidence that a priest was around when it happened, that's all. She'd content herself with that only for the scene to replay itself again in her mind and bring on the doubt once more. Back and forth, her thoughts went, until she finally made her way to the Australia exhibit, stopping at the kangaroo paddock. At least she could get some peace from her thoughts, as she leaned against the railing and watched the animals in the shade of the trees.

"A beautiful creation, kangaroos are," a man spoke up next to her. She glanced over at the man, before doing a double take. Tess nodded slowly. "Yes, I guess they are," she replied hesitantly. "Just like that bird..."

"You saw that, huh," the priest asked, a small smile on his face.

"You bet your ass I saw that," Tess blurted out, before wincing at her choice of words. "Sorry, um, I did see it. I'm not sure if I believe what I saw, but I saw, well, I saw something. I saw what you were doing."

"I didn't realise anyone was paying me any attention there, besides the one I was talking to," the man replied as he shifted his weight, leaning against the railing as well.

Tess couldn't help but smile at his way of phrasing. "You can say praying. I'm Atheist, but I'm not rude or so PC that it's impossible to talk to me openly about this kind of stuff. I don't get offended easily."

The man's smile grew, and he nodded. "Give respect, get respect. Sounds like we've got the same sort of motto."

Tess turned to face the man, studying his face for a few moments before speaking up. "I hope you don't mind me saying this, but you're not how I expected a- a priest to be."

"You mean you expected more of a Westboro kind of attitude from me? I get that so much that I can no longer joke about it." He nodded seriously, only for the look in his eyes to give him away, making Tess laugh.

"Not that extreme, but not so like how you're being. I figured you'd be talking more about your God and sh- stuff, is all. Knowing a person doesn't believe in a God does that to some people," Tess said, with a slight shudder.

Noticing it, the man replied, "I do talk about my God and stuff, but I'm not going to force Him on anyone. It's a personal choice that I can only make for myself, and that's how I believe God wants it for everyone. I'm sorry you've not had the best experience with others that share my faith."

"Wow. You're really not how I expected you to be," Tess reiterated.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing," the man asked, turning to Tess now.

"I'm neutral about it right now, honestly. I'd have to get to know you more to develop a sturdier opinion, and clearly after we leave here, that's never going to happen."

The man didn't say anything, he just kept his eyes on hers, an almost sad look in his eyes, Tess thought. Her brow furrowed at the idea and she realised that she didn't want to leave without at least knowing the man's name. Holding out her hand to him, she introduced herself. "Tess Sayer, and you are?"

The man looked down at her outstretched hand before looking up through his lashes at her, the look nearly taking her breath away, before he gently clasped her hand in his and introduced himself.

"Chris Evans. It's a pleasure to meet you, Tess."

The two spent the rest of the day walking around the zoo together, talking about anything they could think of, wanting to get to know the other as friends do before they would have to part ways. 5pm came all too soon for Tess, and she thought it'd be best to end their walk together in the aquarium. Chris had to make it difficult for her by asking if she'd allow him to walk with her to the gate, adding that he felt he'd have no reason to stay once she left. Tess was grateful for the rippling of the water covering her face because she was sure she was blushing like mad. Damn her ancestors being Irish and passing the blushing gene down to her. Agreeing to his request, she added, "But the flirting thing has to stop, okay? The whole bearded priest who has a lot in common with me is not a kink I need to develop. I'm a writer, and that would just be weird using you as a base for a character." What Tess didn't notice was that Chris turned beet red at her words, and was also grateful for the cover of the water. They lingered in the aquarium for a few more minutes before walking towards the entrance of the zoo in companionable silence, occasionally stealing glances at one another.

Reaching the gate, Tess waved to her family before turning to Chris, saying, "It really was nice meeting you, and making a friend."

Chris nodded, silent as he looked down at the ground. He took a deep breath and looked back up at Tess. "I'm not really good with goodbyes," he admitted.

Tess' face softened in understanding, and she held her hand out to him once more, this time in parting. Chris dropped his gaze to look at her hand, not moving to take it. Tess stepped closer to him, moving her outstretched hand to his arm, causing him to make eye contact with her again. She smiled at him, receiving one in return before she stepped closer and wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

"Have a great life, Chris, you deserve nothing less," she whispered for his ears only, and maybe if there was a God, he'd listen to her words too.

Chris leaned into the hug, tightening his hold on her in a comforting almost sort of bear hug, silently praying that God would give Tess a great life too. All too soon for both of them, they ended their hug, parting ways in the parking lot soon after, driving in opposite directions.


End file.
